Evaluations

Art on the Inside: How Do Prison Art Teachers Maintain Their Professional Practice as Artist?

This evaluation asks the question: how do prison art teachers actively seek out opportunity for development and advancement in their specialist field? It empowers the voice of eight prison art teachers as artists working within a broad context of custodial settings including young offender’s institutes, adult male prisons and a ... read on →

Author Sophie Nickeas

Published August 2016

Artform Visual Arts

Organisation University of West London   Project venues HMP Highdown, HMP Lewes, HMP/YOI Bronzefield, HMYOI Cookham Wood, HMYOI Wetherby

Participant type Male and Female Adult Art teachers working in prisons/YOIs

Sample size: 8

The Arts of Desistance: Evaluation of the Koestler Trust Arts Mentoring Programme for Former Prisoners

This report presents and discusses the findings of an evaluation of an arts-based mentoring scheme that is aimed at prolonging and enhancing desistance from crime through providing former prisoners with opportunities to continue engaging with the arts after release. The evaluation focused both on the implementation and effectiveness of the ... read on →

Author Leonidas Cheliotis (London School of Economics)

Published October 2014

Artforms Creative Writing, Multi-Arts, Music, Visual Arts

Organisation Koestler Trust   Project venues Parc, Peterborough

Participant type Male and Female Adult Ex offenders

Sample size: 60

Final evaluation of the Artist in Residence at HMP Grendon

This report presents findings from the second half of a four year art residency at HMP Grendon. Through analysis of observational data, interviews, focus groups, and assessments of social climate with prisoners at HMP Grendon, this report concludes that the residency has promoted a number of positive outcomes. There is ... read on →

Author Laura Caulfield (Bath Spa University)

Published August 2014

Artform Visual Arts

Project venue Grendon

Participant type Male Adult Offenders

Prison Arts Resource Project

The Prison Arts Resource Project (PARP) is an annotated bibliography of evidence-based studies evaluating the impact of arts programs in U.S. correctional settings. Each of the 48 entries includes information about the arts program as well as the study research goals, methods and a summary of findings. Adult offender and juvenile offender programs are ... read on →

Authors Amanda Gardner, Lori L. Hager, Grady Hillman (Southwestern Correctional Arts Network; University of Oregon)

Published June 2014

Artforms Craft, Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Media, Mixed Media, Multi-Arts, Music, Needlework, Radio, Visual Arts

Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

Women at the HeArt Evaluation Report

Women at the HeArtwas a Thames Valley Partnership project, funded by Arts Council England,  The Monument Trust and Thames Valley Probation, building on the organisation’s experience of using the arts with vulnerable groups. Aims:

  • Creatively empower vulnerable women by offering participatory arts sessions
  • Embed good creative practice into support services ... read on →

    Author Alison Leverett-Morris (Thames Valley Partnership)

    Published February 2014

    Artforms Drama, Mixed Media, Visual Arts

    Organisation Thames Valley Partnership   Project venues Alana House Womens Centre, Crisis at the Old Fire Station, Elizabeth Fry Approved Premises

    Participant type Female Adult Vulnerable women

  • Re-imagining futures: Exploring arts interventions and the process of desistance

    Carried out by Northumbria University and Bath Spa University, this report highlights examples of how the arts can support positive changes linked to personal agency, efficacy and identity, which are linked to the highly individualised journey of desistance from criminal behaviour. Key findings show that participation in arts activities enables ... read on →

    Authors Charlotte Bilby, Laura Caulfield, Louise Ridley

    Published November 2013

    Artforms Craft, Creative Writing, Music, Visual Arts

    Organisation Arts Alliance

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 30

    Supporting employability and personal effectiveness through the arts: international evaluation of this European Project by Jo Cursley

    Supporting employability and personal effectiveness (SEPE) is the name of a qualification which was first conceived by the University of Exeter, developed and accredited by Edexcel and piloted through Superact by funding from Leonardo Lifelong Learning Project and the Medicor Foundation in five European countries. The arts were used as ... read on →

    Author Jo Cursley (University of Exeter)

    Published 2012

    Artforms Dance, Drama, Music, Visual Arts

    Participant type Male and Female Adult Offenders

    An evaluation of the Artist in Residence at HMP Grendon

    Through observation and interviews with inmates and staff,this report documents the process of developing an artistic residency in a Therapeutic Community prison and provides an evaluation of the impact on those taking part. Based on observations across four prison wings and interviews with sixteen inmates, this report is able to conclude that ... read on →

    Author Laura Caulfield (Birmingham City University)

    Published October 2011

    Artform Visual Arts

    Project venue Grendon

    Participant type Male Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 16

    Inspiring Change: Final Project Report of the Evaluation Team

    An evaluation of a series of arts-based interventions across the Scottish criminal justice system, focusing on the impact of engagement in these programmes on offenders’ attitudes and behaviours as well as their ability to learn.The findings concentrate on examining the quality of the arts experience, the people and processes involved, ... read on →

    Authors KIrstin Anderson, Sarah Colvin, Fergus McNeill, Mike Nellis, Katie Overy, Richard Sparks (Scottish Centre for Crime & Justice Research, University of Glasgow, University of Glasgow)

    Published February 2011

    Artforms Creative Writing, Drama, Music, Visual Arts

    Organisation Motherwell College   Project venues Barlinnie, Greenock, Open Estate, Polmont, Shotts

    Participant type Male Adult Offenders, Male Young Offenders, Female Adult Offenders

    Sample size: 219

    Art in Prisons: a literature review of the philosophies and impacts of visual art programs for correctional populations

    This review was commissioned by Arts Access Australia to examine evidence for the value of visual arts programs in Australian prisons and their impact on adult inmates. It considers current philosophies behind art programs, how they are implemented and how ‘success’ is measured, and includes an annotated bibliography of relevant ... read on →

    Author Alexandra Djurichkovic (University of Technology Sydney)

    Published February 2011

    Artform Visual Arts

    Organisation Arts Accesss (Australia)

    Arts Mentoring for Released Prisoners: An Evaluation Project - interim report

    An interim report on the evaluation of the Koestler Trust's mentoring scheme. The evaluation concerns both the implementation and effectiveness of the mentoring scheme, and employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, including direct observation of mentoring sessions and hour-long, face-to-face interviews with both mentors and mentees. The implementation part of ... read on →

    Author Leonidas Cheliotis (Centre for Criminal Justice, Queen Mary Colege, University of London, Queen Mary College, University of London)

    Published November 2010

    Artform Visual Arts

    Organisation Koestler Trust

    Challenging Offending Behaviour with a Creative Twist

    A review of arts-based practice within Leicester City Youth Offending Service (YOS) engaging young people at risk of offending - including YP on RAP and ISSP programmes. Descriptions of visual, drama, media and music interventiions including case study projects from organisations such as Soft Touch as well as the national ... read on →

    Published 2010

    Artforms Drama, Media, Multi-Arts, Music, Needlework, Radio, Visual Arts

    Organisation Soft Touch Arts   Project venue Leicester

    Show more
    Go to homepage

    Arts Alliance Evidence Library

    Filters: Visual Arts [x]

    Filter by:

    Model of Change [ + ]
    Participant age [ + ]
    Participant gender [ + ]
    Delivery methodologies [ + ]